Latvians re-elect centre-right government

Voters in Latvia have re-elected the centre-right government led by Valdis Dombrovskis, according to nearly completed vote counts.

Dombrovskis’s three-party coalition has won around 60% of the vote, with his own Unity party winning the largest share of the vote, with 31%.

The result is being seen as a vote of support for the tough economic policies taken by the government in an effort to bring the country out of a profound recession.

The pro-Russian Harmony Centre, which campaigned against the government’s economic reforms, was the second-largest party, with 25% of the vote. It had been expected to emerge as the party with the biggest support.

Dombrovkis said that the results showed that voters had chosen “stability and continuity”. Other parties had campaigned with promises to scrap the country’s rescue programme from the International Monetary Fund and the accompanying economic stabilisation programme, which included deep cuts in public-sector wages and pensions and tax increases.

Dombrovskis said the other parties were “promising all kinds of wonders”.